U.S. Supreme Court Struggles In Campaign Finance Case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared closely divided over whether to lift restrictions on how much people can donate to political candidates and parties.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared closely divided over whether to lift restrictions on how much people can donate to political candidates and parties.

The nine justices weighed a challenge by Republican donor Shaun McCutcheon, an Alabama businessman, and the Republican National Committee to the overall limit on campaign contributions that donors can make to individual candidates and committees over a two-year federal election cycle.

Although some justices signaled a willingness to lift the restrictions, there was no sign of a desire to go further in weakening a key 1976 campaign finance ruling, called Buckley v. Valeo, as some campaign finance reform supporters feared.